Looks like the logistics team at Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool is getting pretty good at moving freight in an increasingly economical way.
For the third year in a row, Whirlpool Corporation’s Integrated Supply Chain organization has received the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay Excellence Award. That’s the award that represents the EPA’s highest recognition for demonstrated leadership in freight supply-chain energy and environmental performance.
The program recognizes just one percent of the EPA’s more than 3,000 top freight supply-chain partners. Whirlpool Corporation is one of only 11 companies to receive the distinction this year, and was recognized in the large shipper category, which represents companies that move products more than 500 million miles annually.
Whirlpool Corporation Supply Chain Sustainability Manager Kara Hegg accepted the 2017 SmartWay Excellence Award on behalf of the company, as shown in the photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market.com.
Whirlpool is also included in the first-ever EPA SmartWay High Performer list. The new High Performer distinction is given to SmartWay partners with top-ranked performance in efficiency and/or air quality performance.
Alison Jones is Senior Director of Customer Fulfillment at Whirlpool. She says, “We are honored to receive this prestigious award from the EPA, and are proud to have earned it three years in a row.” Jones adds, “We are driven by a strategy to ship our products as environmentally efficient as possible, and we appreciate that our strategy is widely recognized. This recognition is testament to our leadership and commitment to optimizing the environmental performance of our operations.”
Whirlpool Corporation and other honorees – representing a broad range of businesses including retail trade, manufacturers, and food producers – were formally recognized at a ceremony last Monday, October 23, at the 2017 American Trucking Association’s Annual Management Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida. Kara Hegg, manager, Supply Chain Sustainability, accepted the award on behalf of the company.
Christopher Grundler is Director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation & Air Quality. He says, “Since 2004, EPA and the business community have collaborated through the SmartWay Partnership to reduce the economic and environmental costs of goods movement, a vital sector of our national economy.”Grundler notes, “This year’s award-winning freight carriers, shippers and third-party logistics companies demonstrate that they can move more goods, more miles, while using less fuel. These firms are not only serving the growing needs of their customers — they are also doing their part to keep our environment clean and protect human health.”
The EPA SmartWay program, launched in 2004, helps companies advance supply chain sustainability and promotes clean, efficient freight transportation. Since 2004, SmartWay Partners have saved 170.3 million barrels of oil—the equivalent of eliminating annual energy use in over 6 million homes and $24.9 billion in fuel costs.
Whirlpool practice requires contracted carriers to be SmartWay certified. Currently, 99.79-percent of North American shipments for the company are moved with SmartWay carriers. In 2016, Whirlpool Corporation dropped its total fuel consumption by more than 53-thousand gallons by increasing rail transportation and decreasing fuel usage on the road. This resulted in 540 fewer metric tons of carbon emissions for the year.
Read more about EPA’s SmartWay program by clicking the link below:
You can see a complete list of 2017 SmartWay Excellence Award Recipients by clicking this link:
https://www.epa.gov/smartway/smartway-excellence-awardees
You can also find a complete list of 2017 SmartWay High Performers by clicking this link:
https://www.epa.gov/smartway/smartway-high-performers-shippers
